KINGSTON, Jamaica — Acting Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant today said that the escape of Dwight Henry, one of the accused in the killing of two American missionaries in St Mary last year, “was an unfortunate error”.
Grant, who was speaking at a press conference at the Office of the Police Commissioner, said the process has started for disciplinary action to be taken against the individuals involved.
“People have been called in and an investigation is in progress and I have mandated the Inspectorate of the Constabulary that this is one of those investigations that must be fast-tracked,” the acting police commissioner said on Wednesday.
She added that delays associated with people attempting to stall the process will not be accepted.
“We are putting all our efforts on that side of it. We have dedicated work going on to recapture that prisoner and it is consistent (and) ongoing. There won’t be any slacking off. We’re going to get that prisoner back in our custody,” Grant insisted.
She also told journalists that the police are engaging residents in St Mary in an effort to recapture him.
“Deputy Commissioner of Police George Quallo has visited the parish already and he will be going back to ensure that we remain focused. Assistant Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, who is in charge of the area, is mandated to ensure that he doesn’t take his eye off the ball,” Grant maintained.
She also stated that the new commanding officer designate for St Mary, Superintendent Fabian Farquharson, has been briefed and told not to take his eyes off the ball as the prisoner needs to be recaptured.
Dwight Henry, otherwise called ‘Dougie’ and ‘Chino’, of Wentworth, St Mary, escaped police custody on January 4.
He reportedly escaped from a hospital in the parish after he was taken to the institution for medical assistance.
Henry, who the police had named as a person of interest in the April 30 murders of missionaries Randy Hentzel, 48, and Harold Nichols, 53, was taken into custody on June 24 in St Mary.
He was charged, along with Andre Thomas of Port Maria, in connection with the missionaries’ murders.
The two missionaries were reportedly last seen alive when they left Tower Isle on motorcycles about 8:00 am on April 30. Reports from the St Mary police were that the two men rented motorcycles in Ocho Rios, St Ann, and went on a trail in the Albion Mountain area. Their bodies were later found in Wentworth district.

Moya Hinds

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